The invisible man
by Pajaros en la cabeza
Summary: AFTER SO MUCH TIME, I AM FINALLY ABLE TO TRANSLATE THIS FANFIC OF MINE ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE INVISIBLE MAN. I PROMISED YOU AND I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT IT. How does a brilliant Science student from the 19th centuty in Hotel Transylvania?
1. Chapter 1

**_HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA_ BELONGS TO SONY PICTURES ANIMATION**

 ** _THE INVISIBLE MAN_ IS A NOVEL BY H. G. WELLS**

* * *

 _Iping, 1887_

* * *

I knew things had gone really, really wrong as soon as I saw the gleaming of the torches from the window. My head was spinning…I was confused, frightened…and very mad. Nevertheless, I gathered my little strength remaining to pack my things quickly. It was quite useless, because everything fell from my hands because of my nervousness.

The innkeeper kept screaming like a madwoman downstairs, explaining in screams and crying all she had just seen, and I wanted to kill her so that she would stop torturing me with that. Not only had she uncovered me, she had also told everybody and now they were coming to finish me.

After a bunch of footsteps up the stairs which sounded like a stampede, ferocious bumps knocked the door. Before I could move, they tore it down with farming tools and their own hands. I am pretty sure every man in the town came inside.

"There he is!"

"The monster!"

"He's invisible! She told the truth!"

"Get him!"

I drew back a little. My legs shook when I saw those pitchforks and scythes they carried. But I managed to raise my voice somehow.

"Please…You're making a terrible mistake…I didn't hurt anybody…I stole nothing either…I just…"

"Don't listen to him!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill that monster!"

Monster? That was how they saw me?

The most amazing scientific discovery of our century….And that was what I got in exchange?

I tried to soothe them again but I found no reply to those words.

I drew back so much that I back hit the window. The townspeople got closer slowly, like the one who corners a wild animal. In a way, that was how I felt.

I looked at the people's faces, but they couldn't see that I was scared; there was only a suit floating magically in the air in front of them. They wouldn't have pity on me. Then, I was sure I had seen a familiar face among the crowd. Could it be…?

Yes, it was him! Kemp! Doctor Kemp! My old college partner!

"Kemp!" I called him.

Kemp kept looking at me with disgust.

"Kemp! It's me, Griffin! Your friend! Kemp! Tell them, Kemp! Tell them I did nothing wrong! Please, Kemp! Kemp!"

After hearing that, Kemp reacted but not the way I expected. He pounced on me with a poker.

There was no possible dialogue. I had to flee if I didn't want to die in a horrible way. And since the only escape I had was behind me, I had no choice to do it…With the suitcase still in my hand, I rushed to open the window and I jumped through it.

Still to this day I don't know how I survived that. I fell on some barrels, breaking them with my back. It hurt so bad I would forget it in a long time, but the urgency of the moment gave me the forces needed to stand up, grab my suitcase and run down the lane. Well, not run…Wobble, that is.

But I kept hearing screams, people were still able to see my clothes moving without a body inside of them. If I wanted to survive, I would have to get rid of it. So I did it. In the first alley I found, I removed my attire and tossed it. That way, only the sound of my footsteps and my gasps betrayed my presence. However, I still carried my suitcase with me, and I didn't want to get rid of it. I heard the mob approaching and it was difficult to think being naked in plain Autumn and in that state of distress.

My salvation passed right in front of me, like a divine sign. It was the scarp dealer's cart, who had just finished his daily search around the streets. He was singing out loud, staring at his front. It was my last chance to get out of that situation. Taking advantage that he was incapable of seeing what happened behind him in the cart, I tossed my suitcase before jumping in. Just in time before the furious mob came. But they couldn't see me sat inside the cart and they didn't see the suitcase by my side. They inspected the street, opened doors, looked in every corner, pierced the hay in the stables with their pitchforks, until they were convinced that I was not there and walked away. I had travelled a good distance by then.

I curled up between a crippled chair and a wall clock to keep myself warm. I was cold, very cold. And I was still trembling with fear.

There was no place in the world for me anymore. If those peasants had tried to kill me in that way when they saw me, what would the rest of men do to me? If somebody else found me, they might kill me for good. Or use me as a freak show. Or dissect me.

One thing was clear: I had to flee immediately. Escape. Far, far away from there.

…But let us be honest: who would have accepted an invisible man like me?

Once again, the answer appeared right in front of me. The cart passed by the dock.

I watched the water with my eyes wide open. As soon as I took a good breath, I knew that maybe that was my salvation. I have never been quite fond of the sea. Just studying it made me feel sick. But it was better to throw up than being lynched. So I grabbed my suitcase, I jumped out of the cart and wandered the dock looking for a new refuge.

It was late and all sailors were off the taverns to eat, drink and have a good time with streetwalkers. I walked for half an hour and I found nothing. Right when I was convincing myself that I would have to sleep in the street, I saw one single ship about to leave. The crew was releasing the ropes and moving the last barrels on board. I couldn't help letting out a relieved sigh.

I waited till the way was free and, when the last sailor remaining outside was busy checking everything, I passed behind him and snuck in.

I wouldn't find much comfort in there. It smelt like a revolting mixture of onion and vomit, and sweating men walked here and there, but if I could bear it and be unseen, I would be alive for some more time. Not that it was a palace, but it had just what I needed.

I wandered the ship for some time, careful not to bump into anyone or making any noise. The creaks of my footsteps were covered among the constant noises from the ship itself, luckily. And I was careful to toss my suitcase to some corner every time someone came. Finally, I found the warehouse, where I decided to settle. I would have plenty of food and drinks there, I could warm myself with some old candles they stored in there and no one would bother me.

Right after settling myself in the warehouse I went to the provisions and took an apple. I sat to observe how the pieces I devoured went down my oesophagus and dissolved inside my stomach. I had nothing better to do and, frankly, it was a sinister but interesting sight. After that, I checked my suitcase. The bottles were intact, in spite of all the shakes it had received and the ones from the ship fighting against the waves.

I sighed. I could do nothing then except for waiting till we got to land. I did not know where we were going, really. India? Denmark? America? Africa? I had no idea. I didn't care, honestly. I just wanted to escape from my country, where I clearly wouldn't survive a single week. So I laid down, I covered myself with some sails in such a way the form of my body wouldn't be easily seen and I closed my eyes. I was exhausted.

When I closed my eyes, I only got to have one thought before sleeping: "There goes the Chemistry award".


	2. Chapter 2

I can't exactly say how long my journey took because when I wasn't wary of the slightest movement from the crew, I was sleeping, but I do know that we got to the port in many days. I left the ship the exact way I got in: waiting till nobody was in sight to walk out, carrying my suitcase.

As I needed a place to stay and have a bit of an idea of where I was, I hid it behind some barrels filled with stagnant water and strolled around the deck. I listed discreetly to the conversations people had, but I couldn't identify the language they spoke. However, their looks and the climate made me guess I was in the East. Wandering the deck, I found a sign from a tavern which confirmed my theory: I was in Romania. I had only studied Latin and French, but I recognized the language.

So Romania was my new home…

I didn't speak the language, I had no money, no clothes, no food and I couldn't talk to anybody. A pretty beginning.

Nevertheless, I felt happy to be there, since nobody knew of my existence at least. Probably in England my story had been published in all newspapers.

Once I knew where I was, it was time to seek for refuge. At first I thought of sneaking into some inn's room but there was too much people and it was a too risky move, so I ruled out the idea. A barn, perhaps? Urgh, no.

"…In Transylvania."

Wait a moment! Somebody spoke my language! I looked around me. Those voices belonged to a pair of men, very rich seeing their attire, who had just disembarked from a merchant vessel and were heading to the heart of the city. Maybe they would drop some interesting information, so I walked next to them careful not to breathe too strongly nor stepping on any puddle.

"It belonged to an old count but, as far as I am concerned, he died and now it is abandoned."

"A castle from the fifteenth century with no heirs and the government hasn't expropriated it yet? It must be in ruins, I suppose."

"On the contrary, it is in perfect state. But the locals believe it is haunted."

"Haunted?"

"Yes. That is what they say."

"What a stupidity."

The two men kept walking while I stopped. An abandoned castle, in perfect conditions, which people avoided. It was my salvation! I could live there in peace, even if it was just for some time. About the legends regarding old curses…I had studied Science since I was a child, I didn't believe in such nonsense; but those could benefit me in some way: I only had to use my invisibility to feed those rumors and nobody would get near to nose around.

Determined, then, I headed for it. I walked back to the corner where I hid my suitcase, I grabbed it and prepared my travel. Since I knew no Romanian I couldn't know if some car traveled to Transylvania, but I was able to sneak into a library and took a look at the maps to have some idea of the direction I had to take. After having developed a plan, another problem came: I was starting to feel really sick. How couldn't I, being naked and eating so little? I couldn't keep hiding that way…I would have to recur again to the disguise I used in Iping.

I hid behind a shelf away from the sigh of the readers and took the little I had been able to save from my suitcase. A good amount of bandages, sunglasses, shirt, trousers…I left my shoes behind but I would improvise something. After making sure everybody was with their eyes fixed on their books, I covered my body entirely with the bandages, including the face. To hide my empty eye sockets, I put my glasses on. Then, I got dressed. I looked at myself from feet to toes. Not bad, but those bare feet would betray me…I kept looking inside my suitcase, to make sure I really had left my shoes at the inn and…Yes, that is exactly what I did. But I found a pair of socks. They were waiting to be washed, but in those circumstances I couldn't care about those small details.

I walked out of the library with apparent calm, although inside of me I was completely terrified. I remembered the screams and the pitchforks following the fall of my bandages when the inn's lady approached me. Luckily, people was focused on their own business and those who looked at me did it with pity, thinking that I had suffered some accident.

There was a very long way to Transylvania and I could only go by foot. It was going to be long and hard, but…Well, having on account that my entire life had crumbled, I really had nothing to lose.

So that is what I did: walk, walk, walk like mad. There was a considerable distance to Transylvania, so I lost no time.

It wasn't a very pleasant journey: since I had no shoes, my feet suffered more than I could say; I fed on the fruits from the trees and bushes I found on my way; I sleep under them; many times it started to rain and I had to keep going because there was no refuge. To make things worse, I had caught a tremendous cold after walking around naked for so long. I sneezed at every time and each sneeze misplaced my bandages to the point that I wished to get to the castle soon to get rid of them.

In a couple of days I walked half of the way, which is not bad at all considering that I was walking pretty fast and I barely could have rest. Also, to go faster, I got naked again and sat on the rear of the vehicles which passed, getting out when they started to noticed the extra weight.

This way I got to Transylvania. The best of all is that I didn't even have to rack my brains to find the way to the castle: it was perfectly visible from the frontier with Muntenia.

It was impressive from the distance, but even more when you were near. Do you know those haunted castles of blackened stoned, with many towers and large windows, which appear in terror novels? Well, it was something similar. Its look instilled me, I can't deny it, but I headed to the fence nevertheless. That chance was too good to miss it for such silly reasons. When I got close to the fence I found I could get inside freely: all locks were lying on the floor and the door was half open. So I did. I approached the rotten gate and, even though it was closed, a simple push was enough to open it.

The hall was enormous, never in my life I had seen something similar. The stone walls were decorated with portraits of aristocrats, candelabras and dusty tapestries. Actually, what was really abundant in there was dust; I passed my hand on one marble table on which a bronze clock rested and all the dust stuck to it.

I walked around the rooms to check there was no one in there. No, it was completely deserted. I could hear my own steps. Also, the dust couldn't lie: nobody had lived there for a very long time.

I dared to leave out a relieved sigh. At last I had peace and quiet. Nobody would chase me with torches and call me a monster.

One of the doors in the hall lead to a small living room which had a large red carpet, lots of shelves filled with books, a stone chimney and a velvet armchair in front of it. As soon as I saw it, it became my favourite part of the house. I would have loved to have a home like that. I examined the library. The count who lived there was really lucky, the titles I saw were excellent and had very carefully designed editions. I took a copy of Hamlet binded in leather. I lit the fireplace and sat on the armchair in front of it to read.

What was the last time I had felt so comfortable? I don't think I had felt so in peace since I started to work on the potion and I hadn't enjoyed a book in a lot more time. Surely it made me feel good. I believe I even fell asleep in the middle of the first act. I don't know. What I am sure of is that, when the clock in the hall rang midnight, the fire was suddenly extinguished and I found myself in the most complete dark.

I stood up and felt the objects around me, looking for something to illuminate the room with, very alarmed.

I didn't have to look for it. The door I had left closed opened and a man who was holding a candelabra walked in.

I knew him. I had seen his portrait hanging on the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

Count Dracula in person.

He looked exactly like in his portrait. He had a long face and pointy ears. His hair was black and his eyes had a curious blue tone. He wore a long and black cape and a spotless suit. His skin was so pale he looked like a corpse.

He grunted when he saw me, as if he had found a mouse in his pantry.

Just when I opened my mouth to try to explain myself, he raised his hand and a fine bluish smoke came from his index finger directed to me, fast as a lightning. I don't know what he did, but I couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried. Not because I was scared, although it is true that I was. No, I literally couldn't move.

"I am so fed up of intruders…" he cursed under his breath.

He got close to me to see me and shade light to me with his candelabra.

"Bandages? What happened to you, thief? Did you have an accident?" he mocked. "Let's see."

I could do nothing to prevent him removing my bandages, visibly eager to see the face of the intruder. But he opened his eyes wide when he saw that there was nothing under the bandages. He could only see the shelf behind me. Extremely confused, he extended his hand towards the place where my head should have been with such energy that he punched me in the mouth. I couldn't even protest. Seeing that there was something there indeed, he touched my face carefully. The hair, the nose, the eyelids, the lips and then my chest. Up to down, he took his time until he touched the hair in my arms. When he finished, he stared at the place where my eyes should have been and licked his lips.

"Alright…What or who on Earth are you? Speak!"

He snapped his fingers and I felt sensibility coming back to my body. Finally I could blink and move my hands.

"L-Listen, I am very sorry for having…" I excused myself. "I heard that the castle was empty and…"

"I didn't ask for excuses, I want you to reply to my question."

"I'm…I'm Jack Griffin, sir."

"Griffin, huh? That sounds English. Are you English?"

"Yes, sir."

"I imagined that, hearing your accent. Why did you come into my home uninvited?"

"It is quite long to explain…"

"You and I are going nowhere, so you can talk."

"…In broad terms…Because I had nowhere else to be safe. I had to leave my country because when people found me tried to kill me…But don't worry, now that I know you're still living here I'll…"

"They tried to kill you?"

The count looked at me with much interest.

"Euh…Yes…"

I could see how his face relaxed and looked at me with…¿pity?

"Ah…I understand you perfectly…" he sighed. "I myself had to spread rumors and shoo away many townspeople so that I could leave in peace in my own castle…"

He was going to add something more, but a loud roar came from my stomach and shushed him. It sounded as if a lion had irrupted inside the room.

"…Sorry." I apologized, embarrassed.

But the count looked at me with indulgency and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"I suppose your journey from England has been very long and tiring. Let's go to the kitchen."

He took me there without admitting the slightest protest. He sat me at the table and served me ham, cheese and bread. He asked me if I would need something more and offered to look for something else, but I thanked him and told him that was more than enough.

"Don't you eat with me, mister Dracula?" I asked.

"No, thanks. Those things give me gases." He explained. "But, if you allow me, I am going to have a drink. I am thirsty."

He walked to a big pantry at the end of the kitchen. He opened it and I could see a good amount of bottles and wineskins. He grabbed a yellowish bottle, looked for a cup and sat again with me. Very calmly, he poured the content of the bottle into the cup. I jumped when I saw it was blood. Count Dracula noticed, because he looked at me and giggled.

"Easy, friend. It is not human blood."

That reply didn't soothe me much, frankly. But once I recovered from the impression, I cleared my throat and dared to ask him:

"Mister count…Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, tell me."

"I hope you're not offended but…Aren't you…a…vampire?"

When I was little, the children of my quarter gathered in the square and told each other stories about living dead who sucked the blood out of people to scare the little ones. The count looked so much alike the profile of one of those vampires that I had to ask.

Dracula looked at me with an expression that I couldn't described, but looked annoyed. However, a few seconds later he laughed.

"Yes, my race is quite famous around here." He chuckled. "Tales, books, songs…It is funny. I had never heard of any invisible man."

"…Well, yes…"

"Maybe it's because no one has ever seen one." And he laughed at his own wisecrack.

I went with the flow and laughed with him, even though I didn't really feel like it.

"Friend, consider this your new home. As long as I am with you, nobody will ever disturb you for what you are."

"I am so grateful, mister count, but I don't think it is…"

"Yes, yes, it is. There's nothing else to say. You can spend here all the time you want. I usually spend a lot of time out, so you will have intimacy."

"I don't know what to say, except…thank you!"

We shook hands. His was so cold…

"I will pay you somehow."

Dracula look at me with a little grin.

"Yes…I think I know how."

He's going to suck my blood. He's going to kill me, I said to myself, shaking a bit.

However, I was taking conclusions too fast again.

"Tomorrow I will receive some friends and we will love to hear about your country. England is a very interesting land, but we can't travel too much."

"They are also…?"

"You will see. Now you should think about getting some rest. Your journey has been long and exhausting, hasn't it?

"Yes, it was."

"That's it, then. I'll show you."

We left the kitchen and climbed those long stairs. There were so many rooms in the upper room, all empty for centuries, although the count made use of some of them for exercise and painting.

"You can choose whichever you want, all of them are at your disposition." Dracula told me.

Since I could choose, I chose the only one which didn't face the cemetery. All the others did and I didn't think that would do any favor to my rest.

"Good chouse. This is the warmer room in the castle. And has the second most comfortable bed, apart from mine. My grandmother liked it so much that she died on it giving birth to her fifth child."

That was more information than I wanted, but I was sleepy and I wasn't in the mood of looking for another one.

"Is everything right?" Dracula asked, rubbing his hands as I left the suitcase next to the wall.

"Yes." I replied.

"Do you want me to wake you up at a certain hour?"

"No, thanks."

"Then I'm letting you sleep. Good night."

"Good night."

He was about to leave, with the doorknob in his hand, when he turned towards me.

"I almost forgot! The second condition."

"Yes?"

"Stop calling me 'mister'. From now on, I am just Dracula. But you can also call me Drac if you want."

"Alright, if that's what you want…Drac."

"Good. Sleep well."

He finally walked out the room. I removed my clothes and fell on the bed like timber, letting out a sigh.

Now it was safe, but I didn't know if I could trust Dracula. Not because he was a vampire, but because he seemed too interested in protecting me. Who could tell me that he hadn't lied to me and only wanted to suck my blood?

Then I remembered that pitiful look he gave me when I told him that I had fled from my country. Maybe it was really an act of good-will. Maybe he thought monsters had to protect each other.

I'm not a monster, I thought. There had to be another reason. Curiosity, maybe.

…I wasn't a monster really?

Even though I didn't want to, I remembered. I remembered when I left college to experiment the invisibility matter on my own, eager to get all the recognition. The experiments I made on other people's objects and animals. The drugs I had to consume to make the formula work. My father…When I got the letter from my mother telling me that he had killed himself…knowing that it was my fault…

All those things filled my head for a while, making me feel desperate, sad, to the point that I wasn't able to fall asleep until sunrise.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up at sunset. Never in my life I had slept for so long but I wanted to rest some more time, so I wrapped myself in the sheets just like a caterpillar inside its cocoon and closed my eyes again.

I opened them back when a howl echoed through the whole castle.

I jumped instantly out of my bed as if I had a spring in my bottom. My first thought was that a wolf had intruded the castle. Having the doors open, as I found them the night before, and being in a wooded area, it seemed probable. Then I considered it to be Dracula because, according to the legends I had heard, vampires could change their forms. Whatever it was, it was scaring me.

I peeped out. I could only see darkness–of course, the count had made sure that the curtains were closed during the day.

I grabbed a torch which was hanging on the wall and I walked out of the bedroom towards the hall, the place where I thought the howl came from.

"Okay, wise guy. Let's suppose it's not the count. What are you going to do when you find it?", I asked myself. "I don't know, but I can't go back to sleep as if I'd had heard nothing.", I replied. It wasn't a fit of courage. It wasn't at all; I had goosebumps. I remembered the day, when I was five years old, when my neighbours' German shepherd made me fall to the ground and barked at me with his fangs a few inches away from my face. I cried for hours.

Walking as silent as I could, I reached the stairs. I sharpened my hearing to check if there was something or someone down there. I heard some heavy steps, like a heavy man with metal shoes. But, luckily, I heard no paws. I doubted for a while whether I should go down or not. It could have been another intruder just like me, who would be scared of me. Then I remembered Dracula said some friends would come to visit him. In that case, I had to introduce myself, didn't I?

I descended slowly, with the torch in my hand while I tidied my clothes with the other. I headed cautiously towards the living room, whose door was half open and through which I could see the warm light of the fireplace. Yes, the count had visitors. I could hear his voice, the laughs of other two individuals. I reached the door, combed my hair with my hand–how useless in fact, because it was completely invisible–, and I placed my hand on the doorknob to open it.

Before I could do it, the door opened all of a sudden and I found myself in front of a person whose limbs, bluish, were sewn as if he was a rag doll, with green eyes and black hair, who crouched down to look at me as he grunted. I couldn't help jumping.

"WHAT-IS-THIS?"

Dracula leant out the door, saw me and smiled.

"Easy, Frank, this is the guest I was telling you about.", he calmed him down, patting his log-thick arm. "Come in, boy. Don't be shy."

The big man stepped aside to allow me in, even though he didn't stop looking at me with a frown. I got inside of the room, truly intimidated. Another individual, who had shiny green eyes which looked like fireflies, watched me from the armchair and got up to greet me. When he did, I saw it was a mummy, ¡a real mummy! It was obese and all his body was covered in bandages yellowy because of sand and time. The only part which was exposed was a small stripe where the eyes were. The mummy came to me, looked at me from head to toes and cackled.

"It's true, he's invisible! Hahaha! I can SEE you pretty well from here!"

He stretched his hand to touch my face. When he did, he laughed loudly again.

"That's amazing, dude!"

I giggled timidly. Then, I heard someone sniffing at me at my back. I turned around and I saw the one responsible for the howls I heard before. A werewolf. I had also heard stories about them when I was little. In spite of the different versions about their appearance, this one was identical to a normal wolf, the only difference was that this one walked on two legs and wore a nice-looking suit. He looked at me with distrust and I didn't know what to do or say.

"He smells like a human.", the werewolf commented.

"He'll get rid of that." Dracula replied, placing his hand on my shoulder. "My friends, allow me to introduce you to…" he looked at me, waiting for the answer. He seemed to have forgotten my name.

"Griffin. My name is Griffin. Pleased to meet you." I said.

"The pleasure is mine, Griffin. I'm Murray." The mummy shook my hand with much enthusiasm.

"I'm Frankenstein, but you can call me Frank if you want.", the blue giant introduced himself after him, kneeling down to give me a friendly hug…Maybe too friendly, because I heard my vertebrae crack. "Drac's been telling us about you. You don't know how sorry I am for you, it must have been horrible what those humans did for you!"

"Well, it wasn't that bad…But thanks." I murmured.

"Have you slept well, young invisible man?" Dracula asked me.

"Griffin. Fine, thanks." I replied.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up. It's full moon, you know, and I get very silly. I'm Wayne, by the way." Said the werewolf, offering his hand.

"My pleasure."

Dracula grabbed one more chair for me and the five of us sat by the fire–which Frank avoided to look, I noticed. There were various drinks, but I chose water. Just woken up, I didn't have stomach for alcohol.

"Do you want some snacks, Griffin?" Frank asked.

"Oh, yes, please. I'm so hungry.", I nodded.

"There you go."

He gave me a tray which had some bowls full of…insects still alive…

"Uh…You know…I'll wait a little bit." I rectified.

"As you wish." Frank shrugged. He took with his thumb and index fingers one big beetle and put it inside his mouth. I had to repress a heave when I saw him chew it with delight and heard the cracks.

"I see you're not used to this stuff. How long have you been in the club?", Murray asked, serving himself a handful of earthworms.

"I'd say…A month, more or less." I replied.

"It's hard at first," Wayne said, "but you'll get used to it. We all did."

"Yes…It'd be much easier if those confounded humans stopped bothering, though." Murray mumbled.

"Have they bothered you much?" I asked.

"You don't know how many times they've tried to loot my pyramid." Murray sighed, shaking his head as he looked up at the ceiling.

"And all the times they've chased me with torches and pitchforks. All because of some weenie flocks of sheep!" Wayne complained.

"Yes, they are terrible. Martha told me they tried to burn her alive once." Dracula nodded. He had served himself a cup of blood. "But we should better leave the subject. I'm afraid Frank is starting to remember again."

I looked at Frankenstein. He was certainly getting paler and looked into space.

"N-No, I'm fine."

Since it didn't look so, I took the initiative to change the subject.

"Forgive me if I'm meddling, but…Who is Martha?"

"His fiancée." Frank smiled. His terror was gone instantly and looked at me with a naughty grin.

"She's a real beauty." Murray laughed. Drac looked at him with a not very pleased expression and he played down by letting out a laugh. "And a beautiful person. You're very lucky."

"Yes, that's true." Drac smiled tenderly. "I was lucky that she was my zing."

"Emm…What's a zing?" I asked.

"Have you ever felt like a shiver when you met someone, like you know that's the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with? That's the zing." Frank replied.

"I didn't believe in zings until I met my Wanda. I used to think those were silliness from a count in love." Wayne chuckled, putting a cockroach inside his mouth.

"Oh, I understand." I said.

"I'm sure you've felt it some time, haven't you?", Murray inquired.

I thought back.

"I think I did. There was a girl who worked in a tavern near the place where I studied which I liked a lot. But I was too shy to speak to her and one day I saw her walking with her boyfriend." I remembered.

"That's a pity. Well, if it hasn't come yet, it will some day." Drac smiled.

Oh, Rose…Where was she then?

"And tell me, what did you study?" Murray asked.

"Medicine at first. But when I was twenty-two I shifted to Physics. That matter was fascinating to me."

"And where did you go? To London? I heard it's beautiful." Wayne asked.

"Yes. It wasn't bad indeed, although…"

I don't know for how long I spoke. Not because I liked to tell all details from my life, but because each thing I said gave my partners new questions. They wanted to know everything about my country and our customs. Murray interrupted me frequently to contrast them with Egypt's. I wasn't bothered by that, actually, he said very curious and interesting things. I laughed a lot with the jokes and comments of those four.

I think that is the moment when we became friends. If not, at least it was a good first step. Not even when I was normal did I feel so comfortable with others.


	5. Chapter 5

Transylvania, 1889

Murray didn't exaggerate at all: Martha was really an angel. I met her two days after my arrival to Dracula's castle. She was extremely nice to me and was interested about me since the very beginning, so the least I could do was doing the same.

I still remember her: pale, long, black hair, fine lips of the same color, very thin…She didn't look grim at all, she was very pretty and her face radiated love and kindness.

She and Drac announced their wedding in February. I had tried not to disturb them until then, but now that they had decided to take such a big step, I knew it was time that I left.

"Oh, come on, friend, you don't have to leave." Drac tried to dissuade me.

"Yes, yes I have." I said. "I don't want to bother you."

"You're not a bother."

"You're still going to need privacy. Also, it's been four months now, it's time that I leave."

"Where will you go?" Martha asked.

I didn't have the slightest idea, but they would insist in keeping me there if I told them so. So I told them the first thing which popped into my mind.

"I'll go to…To America!"

"America?" the two of them repeated.

"Yes. I heard the witch hunting issue has relaxed quite a bit, so…I think it could be a good place to start over."

"Are you sure, Griffin? Don't you think it's too dangerous?" Martha asked.

"Of course it is. Look, you are no bother. You will stay with us." Drac insisted.

"Thanks, but no." I repeated.

Drac sighed and approached his face to mine. Then, his eyes went red and…Something happened inside my head. I forgot about everything. I could only stare at him.

"You are going to stay." He said. And those words were burnt into my mind, like direct orders to my brain. "You won't insist about leaving anymore. It is too dangerous for you. We will live together until…"

"Drac, leave him alone!"

That stare disappeared and I regained control over my body, although I had to let a few minutes pass to feel myself again.

"If he wants to leave, you can't force him to stay." Martha reprimanded Drac.

"You are right, dear. I'm sorry." He apologized.

"I doesn't matter. I know your intentions are good, and I'm very thankful for that. But it is time to regain control over my life." I said

"I suppose so…But…Couldn't you stay until the wedding day?" Drac begged me. "It will only be a couple of weeks…Enough for you to think well what you're going to do and set everything ready…"

"Careful, he can mess everything and make you stay eternally." Martha chuckled.

"Well, alright." I accepted. "But I'll be far away from here by the time you're back from the honeymoon."

Drac accepted quite reluctantly, but as soon as he looked at his fiancée's face and she smiled at him, his face showed he forgot everything. I also smiled seeing them so in love.

Time passed fairly quick because of the arrangements for the wedding…Luckily for me, because Drac would be busy and would stop insisting. I tried to help in everything I could, but the count turned out to be the most stubborn perfectionist I've ever met in my life and never let me or any of the boys, not the bride himself meddle. Him alone chose the castle as the place for the celebration, bought the flowers, sent the invitations, distributed the attendants in the tables and hired a priest, who I later discovered had died twenty years before. Since he didn't even want to hear about help, I ended up obeying him and thought of what I would to on my own. Even though I had told them that to calm them down, the idea of going to America didn't seem crazy for me. Europe was still too bounded to superstition. Yes, the United States was filled by some of the most fanatic people in the world, but those times of craziness seemed to be gone. Now there were plenty of inventors and science-fiction novelists. Drac had in his library various books about Geography and Humanities which served me to have an idea of what was cooking around there. What I read didn't disappoint me.

"That's it. We're going to the United States.", I finally thought. I looked for a place to stay and I decided that would be New York. It was enormous and crowded, so, if I camouflaged correctly, I would go unnoticed. I prepared all necessary: makeup, bandages, wigs, clothes…Everything I could find and that Martha gave me.

"You can put this on to be completely covered." She said me, giving me what looked like a fake nose.

"Wow, it's very well done. Is it fabric or that new thing called plastic?" I asked, admiring its details.

"Emm, I don't know. I found it in the dungeons." Martha replied, looking away. She didn't tell me not to hurt my sensibility, but Wayne told me later that it was part of the human remainings from prisoners savagely tortured by Drac's family centuries ago in that castle, after I spent a lot of time using it.

Anyway, when the day of the wedding arrived, I already had my luggage ready and the travel well prepared. A group of monsters, also friends with Drac, would also try fortune in the New World, and they offered me to go with them. We would go in a ship which would reach New York late at night, to avoid people seeing us, the day after the ceremony. Since it was highly probable that we wouldn't be able to speak to each other that day, Drac spent his last days as a bachelor to give me some sort of advice, money to start with and a warm embrace.

"I won't insist anymore, but…if something happens to you, write me, okay? I will help you anyway I can." He told me.

"You don't know how thankful I am, Drac." I smiled, hugging him.

I don't know how, he changed from being an intimidating monster to being my best friend and protector.

It turned out I was right: I couldn't even get close to him the day of the wedding to give him my congratulations. It was a very pretty ceremony in spite of the rotten stench coming from most of the guests. Martha was gorgeous and Drac had polished even the last button in his suit. I sat in his side with Murray, Frank and Wayne, who introduced me to their women. Frank's bride was named Eunice and had been created by the same doctor as him, so one could say they were made for each other. They had gotten married three months before I got to Transylvania. I noticed she was quite dry to me because I still behaved and smelled like a human, but she didn't make a fuss about it. She behaved correctly and made a sincere intention of knowing me. On the other hand, Wanda, Wayne's girlfriend, a werewolf like him, was very nice to me since the very start. She was really kind, I wasn't surprised that Wayne loved her so much. I'm not going to spend too much time with details because, human or vampire, all weddings are the same. The only different thing to me was the joy from the just married couple. It was incredibly contagious.

The banquet was held in the same castle a couple of hours later. Dozens of waiters, living dead just like the priest, served us 'delicatessen' similar to what Drac and his friends ate at their meetings. Bubonic moose nose omelette, crocodile eyes soup, cat brains…Nothing I was used to eat.

"Come on, Griffin, try it. You'll see, you're gonna love it." Murray offered me a dish full of worms as fat as my fingers and a blue dough which moved.

"Eh…I think not, thanks." I rejected it.

"Come on, dude, just one bite." Murray insisted.

"Please." Frank joined.

"…Well, alright…" I sighed.

I took reluctantly one specially big worm and held it on the palm of my hand for some seconds, doubting if I really wanted to eat that nastiness. But…I did. I put it inside my mouth and chewed a little in front of my partners' eager look. At first I thought I would vomit the first milk. But when I swallowed it wasn't that bad. In fact…

"…It tastes like chicken…" I muttered.

The boys smiled with satisfaction and gave me some more abhorrent dishes to try, and I found they didn't taste that bad. I tried all of them and liked them even.

It wasn't the only thing they made me do: all of them knew how to play instruments and decided to play a song for Drac and Martha, and asked me to go with them. I learned some percussion a long time ago, so I did it. The result wasn't bad, they clapped at us and Drac was thankful.

The party ended late, practically at midday. The guest slowly left until only the waiters remained, and they cleaned up the tables…and their fallen limbs. Drac and Martha went to their room to rest until it was night and they left to their honeymoon safe from the sunrays. I tried to sleep a bit, but I wasn't used to sleep at day yet and I was too excited, so I only got to doze for a couple of hours. In that case, I decided to wait no more and leave.

Again I wrapped myself with the bandages, put my sunglasses on and clothes which showed as little skin as possible. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Yes, that would be enough not attract attention until I met my travel partners. Since I didn't want to wake Drac and Martha up, I wrote a note thanking them everything they had done for me and left it on my bed.

I left the castle doing as little noise as possible and, bags in hand, I left. I had proyected to meet the other travelers in an alley in Brasov at midnight, so I could use no time. I walked without stopping, not even to eat.

I only did it once. Walking through a narrow path, I was about to jump a big puddle formed by the constant rains when I stopped and gazed at my reflection. A man hidden under bandages. I unwrapped my head and didn't see a face. That was what I had become: nothing. An invisible man, something that couldn't even be considered a human being. Because if I was, why had they tried to kill me in Iping? What had I done to those people, apart from existing? Instead, all monsters I had met in Transylvania had treated me like no one had ever done in my life. Nor my reserved character nor my still human smell had made them feel rejection. I didn't care that they were sinister creatures either. I looked inside my suitcase and I put out the vials which contained the invisibility potion. I held the little box and stared at it for some minutes with a deep breathing. Eventually, I approached a slope on one side of the path and threw it away with all my strength. The vials, the key to find my cure, the finding which would revolutionize the history of war, broke in a million pieces and spilled their content to the ground. Once I did this, I breathed with relief, as if I had gotten rid of a heavy weight, and kept walking.

Jack Griffin didn't exist anymore. Now there was the invisible man. A monster.

* * *

 _ **In the English dubbing, when we first meet the invisible man, he says: "Guilty, you're irresistible!". However, in my language, Spanish, he says: "I did. That's how we greet each other in Manhattan.". In fact, in our version this character also speaks in the same way that Woody Allen (in our dub, that is). So I introduced this small but curious detail to his backstory.**_


	6. Chapter 6

New York, 1893

You would be surprised to know what hides under New York. It is a city under another city, provided with everything needed to live: stone, clay and brick houses, parks, markets…There are not many outdoor spaces because of the fear to be caught by humans, but, of course, one needs a bit of fresh air from time to time, so there are some. Letters which came from outside by messengers and fouls are left in a deposit under the Statue of Liberty, something similar to a post office. Even though it looks like a human city, things work differently there: exchanging is the currency; nevertheless, monsters without resources are not helpless because, due to being constantly hunted, they are the most altruistic creatures on Earth and never hesitate to help those in trouble. Having human dollars was back then all a luxury: it allowed them to buy things they had but monsters couldn't get or make themselves, like fabric, devices, wires or wigs to disguise themselves. The problem was that many of them couldn't go outside, so one of the many jobs was to be an errand boy, reserved to those who could pass as humans.

That was the perfect task for me, since I could look just like one with the help of makeup, prostheses and bandages. Humans believed I had suffered an accident or that I was cold, but they never suspected anything and sold me what monsters had requested me with no problem at all. They were delighted to have a monster so human with them. Thinking about it, it could be said that I was indeed, but I didn't feel so anymore; I felt really uncomfortable among people of my own species and I only wanted to finish my job to stay away from them. The monsters paid me with room and board. I was satisfied because I needed nothing else.

I had so much to thank those creatures that I dedicated my free time to give them health assistance, using all I learned in my three years in the Medicine faculty. They really needed it: monsters were forced to live under deplorable conditions and suffered attacks from humans. I saw everything: shots, dog bites, severe burns, diseases unknown to humans, monsters devoured by their congeners as soon as they stopped breathing (or not)…It wasn't quite pleasant, but it helped me make friends.

Some of them invited me to spend the New Year with them, seeing that I was alone. Their names were Lily and Marcus, and were skeleton siblings from the colonial times. Since I had no more plans other than reading, I accepted, but before that I went to the post office to see if I had news from my friends in Transylvania. Yes, I got letters from all of them. Before getting dressed for the dinner, I read them.

Murray wished me a merry Christmas, in spite of believing in other divinities.

Frank and Eunice sent me good wishes from their windmill in Switzerland.

Wanda made me cookies, but Wayne and the crow messenger had ate half of them.

And finally, a print of Drac and Martha posing embraced to each other which she had made herself. I read the dedicatory. And it made me smile.

Martha was pregnant.


	7. Chapter 7

**Based on a deleted scene from the movie**

* * *

 _Transylvania, 1894_

Drac gave his twenty-seventh turn to the living room. His anxiety face was worth appearing in a dictionary. Wayne, Murray, Frank and I, on the contrary, were standing next to the fire, relaxed, following him with the stare. I was still getting used to the glasses I had to wear because of the astigmatism I had developed five months before, and he didn't help making me move my head until the glasses fell.

"Drac, for heaven's sake, calm down." Wayne asked him.

Drac replied with a crossed 'tsk'.

"You'll see, everything will be alright."

"What if everything goes wrong?" Drac replied in a mutter.

"Wearing out the carpet isn't going to help." Murray said.

Despite everything, Drac kept walking around.

We heard a scream of pain coming from upstairs. Drac turned into a bat and darted away before we could stop him. A few seconds later we heard Eunice kicking him out yelling and Drac instantly came back with us, even more anxious.

"Easy, Drac." Frank told him, patting him softly in the back.

"Martha…" he whispered, looking at the ceiling.

Truth be told, I was nervous too. There were so many things that could go wrong in a delivery…But, in spite of my medical knowledge, Eunice and Wanda insisted that that was a woman's issue and sent me with the boys to soothe Drac and told me they would call me if things got complicated. At the moment, they hadn't called me, which was a good sign. For Drac, however, everything was a bad sign.

Wayne opened his mouth to say something, but Drac made him shush with a gesture and listened attentively.

The five of us heard a cry upstairs.

Drac smiled and ran to the upper floor. We followed him.

While he was inside, Eunice and Wanda left the room, this last one cleaning the blood in her hands with a towel.

"Well, how's it gone?" Wayne asked.

"Perfectly." His girlfriend smiled.

"It's a girl." Eunice added, unable to hide her excitement.

Murray and Wyane looked at me with a smile. Frank let out a happy giggle.

The door of the room opened and Drac came to our encounter. He carried the baby in his hands. He showed her to us in silence, grinning. Frank caressed her smile with one of his enormous fingers, making her turn. Murray laughed.

"She's so pretty." He said.

"Congratulations, Drac." Wayne told him.

"Yeah, congrats." I nodded.

"Thank you." Drac smiled.

He couldn't stop looking at his little one. Not surprising: she was tiny, pale, with round face and the little hair she had was black.

"What will her name be?" I asked.

"Martha wants to call her Mavis." Drac replied.

He leaned towards the baby and kissed her in her forehead, making her open her eyes. Deep, blue eyes, just like her father's.

"Mavis…" I muttered.

I stretched my hand and caressed the girl's hair.

"I like it." I said.

The others nodded with me.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as I came back to New York, I met Heliodora to help her with her makeup and keep her company in the street to get some copies of human press. She was also a delivery girl and they had ordered her to get some human newspapers to track humans and then use them to give classes to children. She was very nervous because her grandmother was burnt alive in Salem, so she asked me go with her to feel a bit safer. I covered her body in pinkish color to hide her green skin, but apart from that there was little she could do to go unnoticed apart form not using her magic, of course. I put on my usual bandages and the two of us looked for a newspaper seller. We were attended by an eight-year-old boy with absolute normality, although we couldn't help people looking at us, of course. We were a suited man whose face was hidden under bandages and a woman with a long nose and hands like claws.

"Many thanks, invisible man. I don't know what would I have done if it wasn't for you." Heliodora thanked me, glued to me…I don't know if she was trying to flirt with me or if she was really panicking.

"It's a pleasure." I replied.

It was winter, so, as it often happens, one is immersed in the dark of the night sooner than they believe. Since the lamplighter hadn't come yet, we had to go back to the refuge almost blindly. Heliodora bumped into a lamppost once and I almost sank my foot into the dirt some neighbor had dropped in the street. Apart from that, we were not uneasy: monsters don't fear the dark nor what hides in it but all the contrary, we love darkness and there's where our friends are. But Heliodora feared we found a human in our way and couldn't help looking around anxiously.

"Calm down, Heliodora." I tried to soothe her. "Nothing will happen, you'll see."

"What if a robber comes or…or worse, a priest?" she stammered.

"You have magic to defend yourself." I replied after thinking for a moment.

I wouldn't be much of a help if someone attacked us, honestly: I wasn't too strong and I had no extraordinary powers.

A shriek made Heliodora jump and instinctively pull out her magic wand. At first, I thought it was a human woman screaming too, but no. It was a crow who had perched on a lamppost near to us. It carried an envelope in his peak.

"Jack Griffin?" it asked with a hoarse voice.

"Yes, it's me." I said.

The crow let the envelope fall and flew away. I caught it in the air.

"What? A letter from your girlfriend?" Heliodora chuckled.

"Hehe, I wished." I smiled.

I looked at the return address. It was Wayne's.

"It's from a friend."

I was a bit surprised that he sent me a letter by express instead of ordinary. Perhaps it was something important. 'That's it. He's going to marry Wanda.', was my first thought. 'Meeting with the boys', I thought then. There was only a way to find out: reading it.

I broke the envelope and took out the letter.

"Can you shed a bit of light around here, please?" I asked Heliodora.

"Of course, darling." She accepted.

We hid in a corner, where nobody could see us, and there she used her wand to create a ball of light thanks to which I could read the letter.

 _Griffin._

 _Something terrible's happened._

My smile vanished as soon as I read the opening.

 _A vicious mob has burnt down Dracula's castle._

 _Drac got to escape with Mavis but…_

"…What happened?" Heliodora asked.

I hadn't noticed that my chest was starting to go up and down heavily, nor that the hand which was holding the letter trembled.

Simply, everything around me vanished when I read that they had stabbed Martha in the heart with a wooden stake.

Heliodora ran to hold me when she saw I was balancing dangerously.

"Invisible man! Boy! What's wrong? What happened?" she insisted.

I released from her softly, not having the strength to push her away from me, even if that's what I wanted to do.

Martha…Sweet Martha…Murdered in such a way…

Her family's home destroyed…

Her daughter orphan of her mother before she had the chance to know her…

Drac was surely devastated because of those loses…

What had she done to those people? Martha didn't drink human blood, she never wanted to hurt anybody. Why had they killed her? Why her?

I couldn't understand it. I didn't want to.

She was a good person and they killed her!

Did they do it because she was a monster? Was that the only reason?

No…THEY were the monsters…

The rage I had inside of me found the first way out: I walked a couple of unsteady steps and then my fist was headed to the glass of a drugstore. The crystal shattered into pieces and so did my fist. Heliodora couldn't help jumping. I didn't mind the noise I caused, nor the blood which was covering my hand…Nothing at all. After that, still full of fury, I got rid of my bandages to the point I almost chocked myself, threw them to the ground and walked back home on my own, leaving poor Heliodora behind.

I didn't stop cursing on my way until I stopped under a lamppost and let tears out feely.


	9. Chapter 9

Transylvania, 1898

Drac was already waiting for me when I disembarked.

"Drac! Hi! How are you?" I greeted him with a pat on the back.

"Good, good, thanks." He replied with a little smile. "How was the trip?"

"You know what it's like to go with trolls…But fine. And Mavis? Didn't you bring her?"

"No."

I realized with those few sentences that Drac had suffered a terrible change since the last time I saw him. He seemed to be trying to avoid conversations and talk about himself. Actually, even if that shocked me, it wasn't surprising: his wife had been murdered four years ago and had to take care of his daughter alone. One can't forget about it easily.

So I tried to change the subject far, far away from his family.

"Well, what did you want to…?"

"All in good time." He interrupted me. "First, get into the car. You're the only one left."

He took me to a car driven by a headless man. He hadn't closed the door when he spurred on the horses and we started moving.

"The others are here already?" I asked.

"Yes, they arrived this afternoon. I supposed you'd be here before eight."

"Yes, I'm sorry, we had a little problem at the port. One lady ate the captain."

"She was a gremlin, wasn't she?"

"Of course. Those could eat their own mother."

We laughed but Drac did it unenthusiastically.

The trip was long, even though the coachman drove as fast as he could. Drac tried to amuse it by asking me about all details of my life in New York, but I had already told him everything by mail and I barely knew what to tell him that he didn't know. On the other hand, he didn't speak about himself in any moment, even if I didn't know how his life was for a long time. His letters almost exclusively told me about Mavis's growth. I wasn't upset about it, I loved Mavis. I melted when I read in my room about her first fang, that she had just learned to walk or that she could fly alone. Last time she sent me a drawing of her with her father, who protected her from some doodles that I supposed were humans which had red rays in their hands which I interpreted as torches. That was quite illuminating about what Drac told her about humans. Who knew what stuff he told to that little girl.

Hours passed while Drac and I looked through the window, silent for long whiles. Finally, we got to a forest. The coachman made the horses stop, hopped off his seat and opened our door. Drac got out first, with that elegance he always displays when he's with a subordinate, and then I. When I did, our friends greeted us. They were all there: Wayne, Wanda, Frank, Eunice and Murray. Seeing the bottles and cards lying on the grass, they had been waiting for a long time.

"Look who showed up! The yankee!" Murray exclaimed.

He immediately ran to hug me.

"Hi." Wayne greeted me.

"We were starting to think you wouldn't come." Frank chuckled, hugging me and patting my back.

"Hi, guys. Sorry about the delay, we had problems at the port." I apologized.

"It doesn't matter. Day hasn't come yet." Dracula excused me.

"Hello."

A little shadow showed up behind Frank. It was little Mavis. God, she was gorgeous. She had grown up a lot since the last time I saw her, when she was a baby, and now she could talk and had a black mane, but still had that look which captivated me.

"Hi, sweetie." I told her, giving her a hug.

"Did you like my drawing?" she asked me with a sweet voice.

"A lot." I replied. "I have it hanging over my bed."

That was true, I didn't say so to please her.

"How did my little one behave?" Drac asked, looking at Mavis with sweet eyes as he pinched her cheek.

"Marvelously. We taught her how to play poker." Murray said, caressing her head.

"It was funny." Mavis giggled.

"No humans?" Drac asked in a lower voice. I noted that his face became a bit darker.

"I didn't even smell one." Wayne assured him.

"Good." Drac smiled, relieved. "Follow me, please."

He carried Mavis on his shoulders and started walking through the forest while we followed him.

"It was great. We should be getting used to children…" Wanda smiled. "Do you know why, Griffin?"

"Why?"

"We're getting married in April." Wayne announced.

"Really? Congrats!" I exclaimed.

"Thank you." Wanda smiled.

"And I'm going to be the best man." Frnak added.

"You'll have to get yourself a new suit." Eunice pointed.

"What's so bad about mine?"

"I am so happy about you," Drac interrupted, "but I also have a surprise for all of you."

He suddenly stopped and got Mavis off his shoulders. He headed then towards a bush, put his hand inside it and seemed to pull a lever. Maybe he did it, because the ground trembled and opened before our very eyes, showing a hidden passage.

"Go." Drac told us.

He grabbed Mavis' hand and both of them deepened inside the dark. The rest of us followed him.

After almost a minute of disorientation and voices, we saw the moonlight again. We hadn't noticed we had arrived to a stone bridge at whose other end was an enormous building.

It was a big castle from which you could see forest and mountains. There were not many windows, but there were tall towers. It was built in stone and black tiles, in such a way it would have gone unnoticed in the dark of the night if it wasn't for the weak lights coming from the windows.

"Wow." Murray muttered.

"This is my house." Mavis said to me, pulling my trousers.

"Your house?" I turned to Dracula.

"Yes, this is my home and Mavis'." He explained. "But it is also yours…Boys, I gathered you here to invite you to the inauguration of Hotel Transylvania."

We looked at him stunned.

"What?" Eunice exclaimed.

"Hotel Transylvania." Dracula repeated. "I designed him from an idea…Martha and I had a long time ago. A safe place where all monsters could rest away from the menace of humans. They can't get here. They would have to cross a cursed forest, face the living dead and swim a lake full of piranhas. Also, the staff is trained to eliminate any menace which could irrupt into the hotel. We have a sauna, ballroom, bar, swimming pool with buffet and library. All you can wish.

He turned to us with a smile.

"And I wanted you to be the first ones to enjoy it."

"You must have spent all your fortune, right?" Murray commented.

"It cost a lot, yes, but I hope I can get good bookings for Easter." Drac admitted.

"I will spread the news in the pyramid."

"Me too."

"Me too."

"Of course, Drac."

"Sure." I joined.

"I am so thankful. Please, come in. Make yourselves at home." Drac said.

We got inside the hotel. A bunch of zombies picked up our luggage and gave us brochures and drinks on the house. I gave give dollars to the one who attended me, but I'm not sure whether he thanked me or if he refused to accept it because I still didn't understand his snarls and expressions.

I sat on an armchair in the hall, which was large and decorated with such an elegant touch that I felt embarrassed for having shown up with my oldest pants (the only ones I had clean), and I drank my cocktail serenely. Yes, sir, I liked what I saw. Drac was a finances genius and a great monster. A place where we could be safe and act naturally for a reasonable prize? Really tempting.

Mavis approached me holding Murray's hand.

"Come see my room." She said.

"Well, okay." I smiled, although she couldn't see it.

I took my drink and followed her. She had dragged the rest of us and we were happy to obey.

"She's so cute." Wanda sighed.

'Yes, she is', I thought.

But I couldn't help asking myself if she wouldn't feel too alone in such a big hotel. In such circumstances, she wouldn't have the chance to meet many monsters of his age.


	10. Chapter 10

New York, 1958

I turned one hundred the 7th of may 1957.

It was a surprise, really. One doesn't expect waking up one day and realize they've been alive for a century. The truth is, hadn't I made some calculations, I wouldn't have believed I was so old. I felt good, fantastically good, as if the twenties were eternal.

I touched my hair in front of the mirror. I felt it well nourished and abundant; I hadn't gone bald. I cut a small lock and some red hairs fell on my hand. Nice. I touched then my just showered skin. It was wrinkleless. To be sure, I covered myself in a bit of talcum powder and yes, it was.

"The potion," I thought, "must have altered my aging."

Well, that was better for me. Science in the 20th century was really interesting and I had a happy life with my friends…since my real family was surely dead by then.

I had moved to Manhattan during the first days of the Great War and my new job, apart from the errands, was to publish articles for and by monster about what was cooking at the surface and in the underground city. It could be said that everything was going great.

The day of my birthday I got lots of mail from my friends, all very generous for such a special date. Wayne and Wanda sent me a special edition of the Origin of Species, bitten by their pups–they had their second litter by then–; Frank and Eunice, a microscope; Murray, papyrus, amulets and other Egyptian curiosities; and Drac, an invisible suit to go unnoticed with without having to be naked. Mavis had slipped a letter in the package his father sent in which she congratulated me and begged me to let her go live with me. "Dad's so tiresome, he doesn't let me do anything.", she said. I laughed when I read that. Oh, those seventy-four…

I gave them thankful letters before going to celebrate on my own to the Lucifer disco, in Brooklyn. Maybe my luck changed and I went back home with company.


	11. Chapter 11

Transylvania, 2012

How miserable a monster's life was in the 19th century compared to nowadays! If there's one good thing humans have done to us, that is Internet: it has allowed us to keep in touch with each other–I found out that way that Wayne and Wanda had their sixth litter–, know the situation of the human world without any risk and buy their stuff with the minimum contact. All the books I have ordered!

Among them there was one named 'The invisible man', by a man called H. G. Wells. I couldn't believe it when I saw it, they had written a book about me a few years after leaving England! It wasn't my imagination. No way. The protagonist was called Griffin too, turns invisible using similar methods to what I used and accommodates in the same town where they tried to kill me. The only difference is that he is an albino and a bloody psychopath, but he even has a college friend called Kemp. Had the author consulted him to write the book? Seeing those tremendous coincidences, I don't think it's impossible. In any case, it hurts me that they portray me as a murdered when I never hurt anybody…

Anyway, as I was saying, these new times also have helped us monsters live comfortably and safe. We don't have to hide until sunset anymore to take carriages or ships to travel: there's clandestine mailing lines, buses and planes which operate any time of the day very well camouflaged, so much that humans have it in front of their noses and they don't notice.

That last way is the one I chose precisely to go to Transylvania to spend the weekend. Ships are not the fastest mean of travel anymore, and it always ends up making me sick; planes leave me in Transylvania, very near the hotel, in little time and for a good price. Since they are small to go unnoticed, there's not many passengers bothering me.

Boy, I'm so eager to get there. Mavis turns one hundred eighteen and Drac has prepared an amazing party for her…Well, his idea of amazing, because he is one of those people who still think telegraph is a novelty. I thought of giving her a laptop, but I'm not sure her father would accept. I have understood that she hasn't left the hotel even once, so I don't think he wants his daughter to have access to the outside world, not even through a screen. So I decided to go for a sewing set, since she likes it, and so I avoid any kind of problems.

As for me…Well, I should relax for some days. Working in an editorial office is harder than it seems.

Time to see my old friends, relax and have fun away from Manhattan's hustle.

I'm eager to try the sauna.

* * *

 **THE END**


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